combining health education with social justice

We are so looking forward to this upcoming school year, and can’t wait to start working and learning together again.

Our board members will have tables at some of this week’s graduate student orientations (including the general Graduate Orientation at Ackerman Grand Ballroom Tuesday, September 23rd from 12:30 – 4pm), so keep an eye out for us and be sure to stop by and say hello.

And don’t miss our first meeting of Fall Quarter will be Wednesday, October 8th from 5 – 6:30pm! Location to be posted in the upcoming week.

Are you looking to spice up your resume, engage in service-learning activities, gain new skills, and enjoy your time while at school?

Then you’re in luck! The UCLA Anti-Trafficking and Human Rights Coalition is recruiting new leaders for the 2014-2015 executive board.

If you are interested in applying for a position, please email a paragraph describing which position(s) you’re interested in and what you feel you can bring to the group. No prior experience is necessary! We are recruiting students for all five leadership positions:

1. Co-President

2. Co-President

3. Evaluations Chair

4. Grants Chair

5. Communications Chair

6. Outreach Chair

To view a detailed description of each position and contact information for current board members, please click here.

Join the Anti-Trafficking and Human Rights Coalition (ATHRC) for our first meeting of the quarter! We will have a discussion about human trafficking in Los Angeles and hold a training about creating your first health & wellness workshop for trafficking survivors.

Speakers will include: Dr. Susie Baldwin, who has worked with victims of human trafficking; Aida Diaz, who is the CAST shelter case manager; and Annie Fehrenbacher, the founder of ATHRC.

Thanks to everyone who came out to our first event of the year! It was great to see so much interest in issues of anti-trafficking. Elena’s Shih’s presentation on “The High Price of Freedom: Moral Economies of Women’s Work in the Anti-Human Trafficking Movement” was fascinating and we’re excited to host more events like this throughout the rest of the year!

We also wanted to let you know that due to scheduling difficulties with the CAST shelter, we unfortunately will NOT be holding training for new members this quarter. Training will commence in January for those of you who would like to participate in conducting educational workshops for the women in the CAST shelter. If you’re planning on participating, you can fill out the background check forms ahead of time to speed up the process – email us at uclahumanrights@gmail.com!

We’re excited to let you know about our first event of the year! Join us for a presentation by Elena Shih, PhD candidate in Sociology and one of the founders of ATHRC, about her research in the anti-trafficking field, followed by time for Q&A and discussion. We’ll also give you updates about our workshops with the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST).

Hello friends!

Thank you for expressing interest in joining the UCLA Anti-Trafficking & Human Rights Coalition (ATHRC). We are a graduate student-led service and advocacy organization that works closely with the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST). For the past few years, we have provided health and wellness workshops to survivors of human trafficking at the CAST shelter.

We wanted to inform you that we are postponing the training and orientation that was originally scheduled for Monday, October 14th. Due to scheduling conflicts with the trafficking experts who were going to join our panel discussion, we have decided to postpone the meeting. However, we are doing our best to work it out! We will keep you updated once we have more information.

In the mean time, we may have some educational events with researchers that are studying the issue of human trafficking. We will send out more information at a later time. Additionally, we would like to share an article about the problems with classifying trafficking as “modern-day slavery”. If you are interested in learning more about the issue, below you will find two websites with information and research about trafficking and sex work. We hope you’ll enjoy reading them!

Lastly, we have an available leadership position (Finance Chair) for the 2013-2014 Executive Board. Please see below for more details. Do not hesitate to contact us at uclahumanrights@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns!

We look forward to working with you all!

All the best,

ATHRC Board

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Open Leadership Position: Finance Chair

We are recruiting for a new Finance Chair for the 2013-2014 Executive Board!

Overall Responsibility: Serves as the organization’s financial point person by planning the organization’s annual budget, developing project grants for campus funding, and maintaining all banking records in support of the group’s expenditures and income.

Specific Responsibilities: Works with the other program directors, advisors, and student volunteers to develop the organization’s annual budget. Submits two to three grant proposals per year. Accounts for all money that is received and spent by maintaining financial records, including copies of invoices, bills, and receipts relating to organization’s funds and properties. Compiles and provides quarterly reports at each meeting.

To apply, please e-mail uclahumanrights@gmail.com with your name, contact information, department, and a paragraph describing what you would bring to the group. We look forward to reading your submissions!

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The Misconception of Modern Slavery: Reinterpreting Forced Labour

By Mirko Van Pampus, Fair Observer, 5/17/13
“Whether on vulnerable sex-workers, child labourers or exploited sweatshop employees, the term “modern slavery” classifies reality in convenient and easily understandable categories, and in this way creates a clearly defined evil to be opposed. Without doubting the good intentions of these initiatives, the question that will be asked is how useful such an approach is in order to really understand and address these forced labour relations. The fundamental critique here is that the categorisation above is to a large extent artificial and that it falsely simplifies a complex and heterogeneous reality.” Read more

Our current Outreach Chair will be graduating this quarter. And although we’ll miss her, we’re looking for a new board member to fill her role. Details on responsibilities below with the opportunity to expand on outreach with community organizations. Please email uclahumanrights@gmail.com for more information on how to apply.
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Overall Responsibility: Serves as the liaison between the shelters, UCLA campus community, and student volunteers.

Specific Responsibilities: Maintains and updates the group website and DropBox account. Conducts on-campus recruitment for quarterly trainings. Meets with other student groups to advertise group activities and discuss opportunities for collaboration across disciplines. Notifies students of community events regarding trafficking and human rights.